2018 TechConnect

This year's TechConnect program will run from July 9 - August 3, 2018. Students will meet at IHMC Monday - Thursday from 12-4pm. They will get demonstrations of all of the current research in the Robotics Lab at IHMC, meet with researchers to discuss their educational backgrounds and career paths, receive instruction in Java programming basics, and work together as a team on a robotics related project supervised by IHMC engineers and staff. Applications will be accepted until May 1, 2018. Apply for the 2018 TechConnect Program using the form below.

Name: *

Name:

First Name

Last Name

Email Address: *

Phone: *

Phone:

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High School: *

Grade Level: *

Science courses taken (or currently enrolled): *

Volunteer Work: *

Extracurricular Activities: *

Honors or Awards *

Hobbies: *

What are your career interests or plans for college major? *

Why do you want to participate in this summer program? *

What do you hope to accomplish? *

Thank you!

What is TechConnect?

TechConnect is a program at IHMC that provides volunteer internship opportunities for local Pensacola area high school students. For 2016, local student volunteers created fun, interactive lessons for a robotics unit called KidBotLabs in the Innovation Center at OJ Semmes Elementary School. Their lesson plans included an introduction to computer programming using code.org, hands on kits designed to teach concepts related to robotics and programming, and a long-term plan for OJ Semmes Robotics Club using Lego Mindstorm EV3s. For 2017, students designed and built autonomous boats that they programmed with Java. Previous years included teaching MIT's Scratch at the Fricker Center and creating Mess Kits at the Pensacola MESS Hall.

2017: Autonomous Boat Challenge

For 2017, eight high school students split into two teams to compete in IHMC's Autonomous Boat Challenge. Students were given materials to design and build their own custom boats and taught programming skills to have their boats navigate an obstacle course. The students also met with robotics engineers to discuss research on humanoid and exoskeleton robots in IHMC's Robotics Lab.

2016: Kid Bot Labs at OJ Semmes

For 2016, local student volunteers created fun, interactive lessons for a robotics unit called KidBotLabs in the Innovation Center at OJ Semmes Elementary School. Their lesson plans included an introduction to computer programming using code.org, hands on kits designed to teach concepts related to robotics and programming, and a long-term plan for OJ Semmes Robotics Club using Lego Mindstorm EV3s. KidBotLabs has built multi-part learning plans as well as developed numerous mini lessons for the students at OJ Semmes Elementary School for use in their Innovation Center.